List & Label 23 Gets Better With Performance Improvements And New Features

combit has released List & Label 23 with improvements and enhancements to boost the performance of reporting applications. The main attraction of List & Label 23 Enterprise edition is the addition of the combit Report Server. As a software developer, you can make use of the report server. It’s a server-based reporting solution for your application which requires no extra programming work. You will be able to make use of the Ad-hoc designer to implement a browser-based design.

The company has integrated several new features into the List & Label designer. The pie and donut charts can now display partial sections instead of a complete circle, or represent several rows of data. Moreover, the virtual formula variables provider users with the direct formatting of values in the variable list via drag & drop. It is also possible to easily edit context-sensitive crosstabs.

Commenting on the development, Jochen Bartlau, Managing Director and Head of Development, List & Label disclosed that the delayed loading of data in the newly launched Designer significantly accelerates the start of the process when using large databases. The speed of the entire printing process is significantly improved with the help of optimized database queries including the ability to reduce the load on the database server.

The advantage of List & Label 23 is that it provides support for a wide range of programming languages and Integrated Development Environments (IDE).

Features

Accelerated Designer Startup

The List & Label 23 is designed to launch faster for large data structures. The relevant information is queried and registered when the user actually requires it such as while accessing data structures. The purpose of the feature is to reduce database queries and hence the processor performance will be improved to a large extent. Moreover, the load on the database server has been greatly reduced.

Increased Printing Performance

The LL 23 includes advanced optimizations for printing and exporting data structure and also to reduce the load on the database server. The end result will be to increase the printing speed. Moreover, the designer recognizes when only unique values are required for report parameters and optimizes the database query accordingly. You will also find the reduction of overall memory consumption for crosstabs when using shadow pages.

Report Server

The Enterprise Edition of the List & Label 23 ships with combit Report Server, which is a complete reporting solution. Previously, the server was available as a standalone product. The Report Server helps developers to save a considerable development time. The company has added a new API to enable users to access all the functions of the server including the ability to add fully configured data sources.

Ad-Hoc Designer

The Ad-Hoc Designer is an excellent alternative to the web designed available locally and available as an independent control. You will be able to quickly integrate the designer on to your own web applications. Furthermore, customers can create their own reports directly from the browser and tablet.

Relational Linking of Data Sources

With List & Label 23, you can simply define relations between several data sources. You can now link customer data from an SQL table to the online order as a CSV from the webshop.

New Data Provider: Salesforce

List & Label 23 provides support for the Salesforce web service to enable you to access entire data model directly.

New Features in Pie and Donut Charts

In the Designer, users can now define several data series in the donut chart, which are displayed as nested rings. This allows for an easy comparison of different time periods, for example. All variations of pie and donut charts can also show a partial section instead of the complete circle. Thus, data can also be displayed e.g. in a semicircle.

Virtual Formula Variables with Drag & Drop

It is possible to define virtual formula variables using drag & drop mechanism. You can display date, numeric, string and boolean in expanded format in the tree view using drag and drop.

Signal Ranges

With the help of List & Label 23, you can highlight certain areas in charts in horizontal and vertical format. The aim is to capture crucial data in charts and display them in a clear manner.

SVG Image Format

The designer included with the List & Label 23 provides a capability for the users to integrate images directly into reports in the SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format.

Comprehensively Revised SVG Export

The drawbacks included with the previous editions of SVG exports are completely removed. This format is ideal for display of images in modern web browsers. Moreover, you can enlarge them without sacrificing quality.

Context-Dependent Editing of Crosstabs

As a user, you can modify the color, font, alignment directly without having to use the properties dialog. The embedded contextual ribbon makes it quick and easy to use the extensive options offered by crosstabs. The real data is also available directly for processing when you work with a data provider as a data source.

Pricing

The standard version of the List & Label 23 is available from EUR 774. If you would like to purchase upgrade version, you need to pay EUR 464. The LL 23 is also available in Subscription Edition starting at EUR 1428 with access to service packs and updates. You can also download a free 30-day trial version from the official website of the combit.

Anand Narayanaswamy is the editor-in-chief of Learnxpress. He was a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for a period of 9 years. He is a ASPInsider based in Trivandrum, Kerala State, India. Anand is the author of Community Server Quickly published by Packt Publishing.